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NASA successfully kicked off its historic Artemis 2 mission<\/a> around the Moon on Wednesday, a pitch-perfect rocket launch that saw the agency\u2019s towering Space Launch System and Orion capsule carry humans to space for the first time.<\/p>\n Besides being the first time we\u2019ve sent humans to our celestial neighbor in over half a century, the mission\u2019s daring crew of four also includes the first Black person and first woman to visit the Moon.<\/p>\n A third passenger, though, is raising hackles online. The agency\u2019s decision to bring Canadian Space Agency astronaut and former North American Aerospace Defense Command fighter jet pilot Jeremy Hansen seems to have president Donald Trump\u2019s supporters in a tizzy.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy are we letting a Canadian go to our Moon?\u201d one X account wrote<\/a> in a tweet that was liked and reshared thousands of times.<\/p>\n While the author likely meant the missive in jest<\/a>, a brief glance at other colorful commentary proliferating on Elon Musk\u2019s social media platform paints an unflattering picture of the way some Americans view the historic act of international collaboration.<\/p>\n \u201cThe US is sending a Canadian to the Moon on Wednesday,\u201d another user wrote<\/a>. \u201cYou would never guess that, from how they run their mouths, and how their stupid Prime Minister sucks up to China, but that\u2019s okay. We are a great and generous people.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s the kind of xenophobic isolationism the Trump administration has become known for. Some took to the platform to further its highly controversial stance that Canada should be annexed as the so-called \u201c51st state<\/a>.\u201d Trump has repeatedly used inflammatory rhetoric to antagonize the United States\u2019 northern neighbor and once closest ally.<\/p>\n \u201cAmerica is sending a Canadian to the moon because the American 1,000 Year Empire already controls Canada,\u201d one account wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe US has a flag on the Moon,\u201d another teased<\/a>. \u201cYou don\u2019t, Canadian bacon.\u201d<\/p>\n Other commentators took a more lighthearted tone, poking fun at the way the media treated the subject.<\/p>\n \u201cWow, we really did it,\u201d YouTuber and space enthusiast TJ Cooney tweeted<\/a>. \u201cThree humans and one Canadian going to the Moon.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s so funny that they keep saying first Canadian to go to the Moon in the same breath as the first Black man and the first woman,\u201d Semafor\u2018s Josh Billinson wrote<\/a>. \u201cSure, it\u2019s true, but it\u2019s not really the same thing!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe structural barrier to Canadians going to the Moon last time was not having a space agency!\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Indeed, the Canadian Space Agency was established in 1990, several decades after NASA\u2019s Apollo missions wrapped up. It has been been fostering a tight partnership with its American counterpart ever since, as exemplified by the Canadarm, the robotic arm that\u2019s supported US Space Shuttle missions for 30 years<\/a>. The agency\u2019s followup Canadarm2, currently attached to the exterior of the International Space Station, has proven invaluable for orbital operations for the last 25 years.<\/p>\n Fortunately, the heated rhetoric on social media has likely flown far over the head of Hansen, who also wasn\u2019t above playing into Canadian stereotypes during his preparations for the mission. He made sure to bring a piece of home while hundreds of thousands of miles away from home: maple syrup and maple cream cookies.<\/p>\n \u201cI just kept saying to them yesterday, I really like it up here,\u201d Hansen said in comments to the media on Friday<\/a>, while surrounded by the cramped interior of NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft and his three American crewmates. \u201cI wish I could\u2019ve gotten here sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n